525,600 Minutes
by PseudonymA1
Summary: One year in the lives of four Odaiba seniors as they experience love, heart ache, and the first pains of adulthood. Rated for themes and language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've returned! And what a return it will be. About the story: couples will not be listed at this time; I'm just letting this story flow without putting any kind of limits on it. There are some original characters who will feature prominantly, though not as Mary Janes. Feel free to comment, but please be open-minded. Without further ado:

The characters, settings, and situations presented her are not mine. The belong to their respective owners.

525.600 Minutes: Chapter One

"Jet Lag"

When the alarm rang at 6:15, T.K. knew it must be some mistake. He shouldn't be getting up already—just ten more minutes. He rolled over and burrowed under his blankets. The ringing didn't stop however, and Mrs. Takaishi was not amused.

"Takeru Takaishi, you get up right now!" she hollered from the hall.

"Five more minutes, Mom!" came a muffled reply.

"Oh no you don't." Without warning Mrs. Takaishi flung open the door and ripped the covers off her son. "it is time to get up, son."

"MOM!" cried T.K., trying to pull a blanket over himself, "That just isn't cool. You just can't rip the covers off a guy." Mrs. Takaishi merely rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so self-conscious. If you don't want me to see you in your underwear, maybe you'll get up all by yourself. Now get going! Kari wants to meet you before school."

Now thoroughly awake, T.K. padded over to the bathroom. He stripped down and began running the water for his shower. The warm water felt so good on his cramped muscles. Wrapping a towel around his waist, T.K. took out his razor and lathered up his face. He thought back fondly to the first day of his seventh grade year, when Matt had insisted that T.K. get rid of "that awful peach fuzz." Could that really be five years ago? He splashed aftershave on his face and returned to his room.

His clothes lay everywhere. From a pile on his desk, T.K. found a clean pair of boxers and some socks. His uniform shirt hung on the back of the computer chair. The jacket and pants had managed to stay folded onto of the armoire, but the tie was nowhere to be found. Not willing to start his senior year with a demerit, T.K. picked up his cell phone. His fingers flew over Kari's phone number; he waited as it buzzed softly.

"Hello?" came a sweet, familiar voice.

"Hey, it's T.K. Good morning." T.K. said as he struggled to pull on his dress shoes.

"Happy first day of school. Why are you calling so early?" Kari said.

"Oh, nothing much. I just have a little favor to ask you." Success! Left shoe was now on the foot.

"Fire away."

"Did you leave the house yet?"

"I was just putting my jacket on. Why?" Kari heard a muffled crash as T.K. fell to the floor.

"Sorry, I'm having trouble with these damn shoes. I think my feet grew overnight. Anyway, do you happen to have one of Tai's old uniform ties lying around?"

"Oh, T.K. You can't have lost yoursalready!" Kari laughed.

"Well, I have. And I'm really not looking forward to starting this year off with a brand new demerit."

"I think I can find one. Meet me at the corner, kay?"

"Thanks a million Kari!" T.K. smiled.

"Not a problem, goofball." T.K. hung up the phone and shoved it into his school bag. He stopped once more in the bathroom to brush his teeth, then headed out the door.

"Have a good day, Mom!" he shouted behind him.

Two blocks from his apartment, T.K. found Davis waiting at the bus stop. The crazy soccer player had grown quite a bit in four years. His build was no longer so lanky and he'd finally gained control of his arms and legs. When he saw T.K., Davis grinned a mile wide.

"T.P.! When did you get back?" David shouted.

"Ah, give it a rest Davis. Aren't you getting old for that name-calling shit?" T.K. smiled.

"Hey, it's tradition, man." He replied.

"Well hardy-har har. My flight got back around eleven last night."

"Man, you must have some serious jet-lag!" Davis said sympathetically. "The ride back from soccer camp was bad enough."

"It was a pretty decent flight. Besides, New York isn't that far ahead of us." T.K. remarked.

"Your sarcasm never ceases to amaze. Hey! Kari!" Davis waved to the petite girl as she crossed the street. "What took you so long?" She thrust a tie into T.K.'s hands.

"Mr. Brilliant over there couldn't find his tie. He's just lucky I'm a nice girl."

"Oh, thank-you most gracious Hikari. I am forever in your debt," T.K. bowed deeply. Straightening, he began to tie the torture device about his neck. The bus pulled up and stopped with a gasp.

"Here we go, boys!" Kari laughed.

The three made their way to the back of the bus. Davis swung into a seat next to a teammate and the two began prattling about some drill they'd worked on the last week. T.K. found himself sharing the back row of the bus with Kari and a boy from her photography class. She began a conversation with him right away about some project they'd worked on last year. Turning on his mp3 player, T.K. caught up on his sleep.

"So how did your final project turn out?" Kari asked the boy, Kaneda.

"Brilliantly, if I may say so myself," he replied.

"Oh, you may," she laughed. "You really slaved over those prints."

"Yeah, but you were a big help. Somehow you just look at a negative, and you know exactly how long to expose it. I don't get how you're so good at it."

"Practice," Kari replied. "Are you taking Photo 4 this year?"

"Of course!" Kaneda answered. "Want to be locker mates again?"

"Who else would I steal my film from?" Kari laughed.

With a lurch, the bus heaved to a stop. Kari tapped T.K. awake. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, T.K. followed her off the bus and into the school yard.


	2. Chapter 2

While T.K. and Davis got an impromptu game of hackey sack going, Kari plopped onto worn wooden bench. Kaneda lowered himself next to her and drew in his legs, staring at the other guys. Normally, he refused to associate with such animals, but Kari would never leave those boys for him. The sad fact was that in order to be close to Kari, Kaneda would have to be close to Davis and T.K. Following his gaze, Kari nudged Kaneda.

"When are you going to stop hating them?" she asked pointedly. Sighing, Kaneda rolled his eyes.

"Stop it Kar. I don't hate your friends." She settled back on the bench and took out her make up bag.

"I see the way you look at them," she said as she drew a thin black line across her eyelid. "You're not fooling anybody Kaneda." Kaneda rammed his heel into the fence behind them.

"I just find it hard to believe that somebody like you could spend so much time with block-headed jocks," he muttered.

"Kaneda, when are you going to give up these stupid little stereotypes? You should know better than anybody how hard it is to fit real people into categories. Come on now, don't you trust me to choose good friends?"

"You've known them since you were little. That's different." Kari snapped her makeup bag shut.

"I've also known Aki and Hana since I was little. We're definitely not friends anymore." Kaneda held up his hands in defeat.

"Okay, you've got me. You win." The triumphant girl smiled.

"You don't have to love them. Just tolerate those two clowns."

The bell signaled the beginning of the first class of the year. For T.K. and Kari, World Literature. Kaneda found himself in the same math class as the previous year, while Davis caught a nap in study hall. The four moved through their morning classes with all the joy and vigor of kindergarteners. This was it now: the beginning of the end.


End file.
